EPIC Irish women who were equality pioneers
Female trailblazers being honoured by museum for International Women’s Day
TODAY marks International Women’s Day, a time to celebrate female achievement in the world.
So EPIC, the Irish Museum of Immigration, is running a guided tour highlighting Ireland’s incredible female pioneers who made their mark on the world down through history.
Its “Rebels and Revolutionaries” tour honours trailblazers like activist Eva Gore-booth, architect Eileen Gray, actress Maureen O’hara and fashion designer Sybil Connolly.
Here are some of the “epic” Irish women in the hall of fame...
MARGARET COUSINS – educationalist, social reformer and activist
Born Margaret Gillespie to a unionist family in Boyle, Co Roscommon, in 1878, she co-founded the Irish Women’s Franchise League in 1908 and represented Ireland at the Parliament of Women in London in 1910.
During her stay there, she was jailed for smashing windows, a protest tactic of the Suffragettes. She also spent a month in prison in Ireland for breaking windows with other activists in Dublin Castle.
She moved to India and founded the All India Women’s Conference to improve education for women and children in 1927, and published her book Indian Womanhood Today in 1941.
She died in India in 1954.
ANNIE BESANT – trade unionist, socialist and one of the first women to endorse birth control
Besant was born Annie Wood to Irish parents in London in 1847.
She married her husband, Reverend Frank Besant, at the age of 19, who was controlling and took all her earnings as a writer.
She separated and moved away with her daughter, dedicating her life to activism.
Besant was put on trial under the Obscene Publications Act for co-publishing The Births of Philosophy, which argues for contraception.
Her husband later took full custody of her daughter, claiming she was “an unfit mother”.
EILEEN GRAY – architect and furniture designer from Co Wexford
Gray is recognised worldwide as a pioneer of modern design.
She studied at London’s Slade School and in 1902 moved to Paris, where she lived as a bisexual woman.
In 1923, the Salon des Artistes exhibited a room of her work. She soon became one of the most celebrated architects and designers in Europe.
It was only when she was in her 90s that her fame took off, with a retrospective of her work in London recognising her as a pioneer of design.
EVA GORE-BOOTH – suffragette, trade unionist and poet
Eva was born to the aristocratic family of Sir Henry and Lady Georgina Gore-booth in Lisadell, Co Sligo, and became a campaigner for women’s workers’ rights and animal rights.
She moved with her lover Esther Roper to Manchester in 1897, defying the law and societal norms.
She died of colon cancer in 1926.
SYBIL CONNOLLY – fashion designer from Waterford
Connolly dressed some of the world’s most glamorous women, adding a distinctly Irish twist to her designs, such as Donegal tweed.
In 1953, a red cape and white dress she designed appeared on the cover of Life magazine under the title “Irish invade fashion world”.
She launched her own label and counted Elizabeth Taylor and First Lady Jackie Kennedy among clients.
KAY MCNULTY – computer programming pioneer
The Mcnultys emigrated to Pennsylvania from Donegal in 1924. A brilliant student, Kay won a scholarship with outstanding maths grades.
The US Army needed mathematicians, and hired her as a “computer”, calculating missile trajectories.
She went on to develop the processor for a top-secret 30-ton machine called the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer.
Kay later revealed that she worked on testing the feasibility of the H-bomb.
MAUREEN O’HARA – movie star, born in Ranelagh, Dublin
Maureen Fitzsimons began her acting career at the Abbey and was spotted by actor Charles Laughton, who suggested a name change.
She starred opposite Laughton in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, before starring in John Ford’s How Green Was My Valley in 1941 and later her most famous role in 1952’s The Quiet Man.
Co-star John Wayne said of her: “She’s a great guy.”